Myths about Press Releases

Because public relation firms are in the business of well, public relations, it is to their benefit to inflate their metrics and hype of the benefits of certain services. While press releases, on a large part, are very cost-effective and useful, it is still important to be careful when it comes to believing everything that is said about it by PR professionals. Small businesses and mid-sized enterprises are usually the ones that pay most for promotions due to some misconceptions on press releases. In this article, we’ll look into the common myths about press releases:

A lot of PR firms are promoting press releases that can be used for social media purposes. They usually market it as an add-on service that can improve search engine ranking. It is true that this strategy does have its merits but it is no magic bullet if you’re looking to increase your ranking. If you do decide to take advantage of press releases for SEO purpose, consider it to be complementary to your current strategy rather than an alternative.

A lot of press release distribution service companies will post the logo of CNN, Yahoo, and Forbes.com on their websites. It is impressive until you look deeper. This is because while your press release will appear on those websites, it does not appear prominently in sections that are intuitively accessed by site visitors.
There are some PR distribution firms that may inflate the number of page impression your press release receives. Some, for example, use the number of visitors CNN’s press release section receives, for example, rather than the traffic your page actually generates.

Myth 3: Paying more means better mileage

There are a lot of PR distribution companies that all claim the same thing: that they are the best. That being said though, it is actually a fact that some PR distribution firms are better than others. However, it is equally critical to determine whether paying a significantly higher amount will give you value for your money. If the price difference between two firms is significant but their media pickup rate is almost the same, then opt for the service that asks a cheaper price.

Myth 4: PR distribution firms offer accurate targeting

If you’ve uploaded a press release before, then you know that PR distribution firms give you the chance to target the market in terms of industry, geography, and ethnic group among others. The rate you have pay may be influenced by the target audience you choose. Using targeting is important but it may not be as effective as some companies claim them to be. So be careful about paying more for a service that might not work.

Using press releases has many advantages. However, it is critical for you to know about the common myths that hype up the appeal of press release. This gives you the chance to get maximum value for your money.